Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 An ongoing Great Garage Massacre?

It won't be quite like this!
photo source CarMax.com

I'm going to be moving forward with the premise that all of my hobby cars are for sale.

If I locate an interested buyer, then I can decide whether or not I will actually sell one.  So my initial prices will be a little higher. But not so high as to scare off a prospective buyer. 

This seems to be a reasonable strategy.

Especially if I take different cars to various Cars and Coffee events. Maybe that's a good way to locate a potential buyer.

It was kind of liberating writing that post about who are we saving our cars for?

Sometimes, I wonder if we are even saving them for ourselves.

Oftentimes, we are just dealing with inertia, it's easier to just maintain the status quo, until outside events necessitate action. 

I don't feel that I'm running out of time especially fast, I think that I've still got a good number of years left  to play around with cars. But I would like to pare down the number of hobby cars, as I age. 

It also made me realize that there's no real reason for me to hold onto any of my hobby cars. I should move them along if I lose interest. It's not like I'm buying expensive cars, so any loss is pretty reasonable. Also, maybe I can cut down on the number of hobby cars that I currently own. 

However I don't plan to just give my cars away. 

It's not like I hate any of my cars, and currently they all run pretty good. But big expenses will come along soon, like new tires for my Navigator and then for my '96 Mustang.  I just paid for a new battery for the '96, tires for the '06 Mustang, and registration for a couple of them, totaling 1,500 bucks. Registration, insurance. and expensive maintenance items have to be taken care of even if you don't drive the cars that much. 

Like most car guys I'm always looking for the next car that I'd like to own. 

I test drove that Lincoln MKC and I liked it. Maybe I should try a later model MKX?

I'm thinking that I should also test drive the two other cars that I've been seriously thinking about; The Cadillac XTS and the CTS.

The XTS is a bigger FWD car that is focused on traditional luxury. It is very quiet and smooth riding. It comes with a 300 hp V6 which seems more than adequate. From what I've read, it can achieve close to 30 mpg. on the highway. 

The reviews that I've read indicate that the CTS is a driver's car along the lines of a BMW. I sat in a 2008 model and it was nice, though a bit tight. I prefer the 2008 and up models. Though I would be looking for a 2014 model as I want it to have built in Navigation and a back up camera. 

Besides satisfying my curiosity, it also provides me with some interesting content for my blog. I'll stick to cars offered by dealers.

My present goal is to buy nothing older than ten years. Mileage would have to be lower, 100,000 miles maximum, but preferably less. Of course, they would have to be in excellent mechanical and cosmetic condition. That will make it easier to preserve and maintain them, which is my favorite part of the hobby. 

So where does this leave my interest in older cars? 

Good question. I don't really have an answer for that...yet.

I was at a Burgers and Cars event in Santa Rosa last week, and was speaking to a young guy who had showed up in a Fox body Mustang GT Hatchback. He had recently bought the car, which had already been restored. I told him that I'd bought most of my old cars back in the 1970's, and that I don't see myself backtracking and buying the same models today. Been there done that.

As I get older I don't relish the thought of doing a lot of mechanical work on my cars. I had a bunch of "fun" redoing my truck's brakes a few weeks back.

I was thinking that it might be fun to have an older, simpler, car to work on and drive, one that I wouldn't try to restore to perfect shape. Then I realized that I've already had that! My '70 Mustang coupe. It wasn't a bad car, but I didn't really enjoy driving it, and lost interest in it after a couple of years. 

So maybe I'm not being honest with myself.

Well, I don't have to explain my choices to anyone. I'm free to move on to enjoy a different type of car, and as I get older, my preferences are likely to change.

I'm curious to see how this plays out.